Suspect in killing of woman at Los Angeles store taken into custody

By Stella Chan, Theresa Waldrop and Amir Vera, CNN

The suspect wanted in connection with the killing of Brianna Kupfer while she was working at a Los Angeles furniture store was taken into custody Wednesday, police said.

Pasadena police officers picked up Shawn Laval Smith, 31, shortly after noon Wednesday, Los Angeles Police Detective Meghan Aguilar told CNN.

Details about what prompted the arrest weren’t immediately clear, Aguilar said.

“There have been dozens if not hundreds of possible sightings reported to police,” said Aguilar.

Officials had been offering a $250,000 reward in the case.

Kupfer, 24, was stabbed with a knife before her attacker fled down the back alley of the store last Thursday afternoon, the LAPD said Tuesday.

Just after 1:30 p.m., Kupfer, who had been working alone in the store, texted a friend that someone there “was giving her a bad vibe,” Lt. John Radtke of the LAPD said at a news conference. The person receiving the text didn’t see it immediately, he said.

A customer entered the store about 15 minutes later and found Kupfer “on the ground, lifeless, covered in blood,” Radtke said.

The attacker was not known to the victim and was a random walk-in to the store, LAPD said. Police have not publicized the name of the store but said it’s located in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue.

The victim, from Pacific Palisades, was enrolled in extension courses at UCLA, the university said.

“Brianna was a smart, funny driven and kind soul who only wanted to better herself and her community on a daily basis,” her family said in a statement read by a city council member at the news conference. “While she could be shy at times, she lit up any room she was in and strove to elevate everyone she met so they could be better versions of themselves.”

Her father, Todd Kupfer, told Fox News he didn’t know why she was in the store alone.

He said his daughter was curious about the world and competitive with her three siblings. “She was a great role model, she was very, very caring,” her father said.

“I’m so proud of what she’s accomplished and where she was going.”

The seemingly random and senseless killing of Kupfer “has shaken and shocked our community to the core,” said Paul Koretz, a City Council member. “We will find this vicious criminal, we will arrest him and we will get him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he promised.

An “intensive investigation” is ongoing, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said.

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CNN’s Stella Chan reported from Los Angeles; Theresa Waldrop and Amir Vera wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Sarah Moon contributed to this report.